In the version I am doing right now I aim to solve most of you points. I want the gameplay to be more fluid and a bit faster. I will implement shields and the structure of the game will change. Currently it's very linear (and narrow). I want the world to be more open to have more paths that you can take and thus there will be more space.

However I don't want this game to be played like a "normal Hack & Slash" game. So it will be probably slower than most action RPGs (I want the player to thinkg about when to attack and see what will come from enemies).

I had the idea to put doding to the mana-pool since I wanted the player to be upfront to the enemy and use dodge when necessary and not to spam it. Since your attacks restore mana I thought this shouldn't be a problem. I admit that the situation when you have no more mana sucks.

If I was complaning about the dash and mana it's beceause if I don't use my mana it's really hard to not get hit (using a dash or a spell from distance). And there's no way to protect yourself from a melee attack, except getting a bit lucky on timing, attack range and ennemie's timing attack isn't really clear(To me it lacks what I call in french "lisibilité" which makes a situation easier to "read"). Also in a fight the player is always walking back, that's common in a game where you play a distance character since melee is his weakness, but even whith a sword, you keep walking back while charging an attack or waiting the ennemy so fail his. That's why a shield or a parry is a good solution for these problems to me.

It's ok if you want your game not to be as fast-paced as any Hack'n'Slash, but walking from a place to another is boring, wanting fights ot be slower, more based on timing than spamming, is a good idea. I was maxing swiftness, not to hit faster, but just to not get bored while moving. Having the possibility to run would be great, a running mode in which your can't fight and have to draw your weapon next after which slow you down to a more appropriate rythm for a fight.

To much tombstone, I sometime feels like playing a leg-less character :D , I recommand yout to make transparent stuff hidding your character.

I was afraid to be a bit harsh for an "itch.io independant amateur cuty loving game" but I tried to be more respectfull and don't treat your work like my 5yo nephew's hand-drawn family house. So it's nice you take it easy

Don't be afraid to be too harsh. I know that this game has a lot of issues and it's hard for me as a developer to see each issue on my own. Having critical comments help me to identify these and hopefully make it better (which doesn't mean that I will implement each comment straight away).

I also had the feeling of "always" moving backwards, the game lacks some mechanics that "rewards" not to. A shield is a very good idea to at least stay at a certain distance and maybe a shield-bash (block + dash into enemies) could be something to get closer to enemies. Also I have planned to allow the player to customize his style of playing (e.g. play more aggressive, passive, melee, ranged, one-handed, two-handes, shield, magic) with certain game modifiers (e.g. the regain-system like Bloodborne or mana refresh when blocking attacks or increasing damage for sucessfull attacks in a row). A player will be allowed to choose like 4 modifiers by equipping certain items that he be can found in the game. I hope that the game will feel more unique to each player with that system.

The idea of different "move"-modes is nice. One in which you can't attack but move faster (travel-mode) and one in which you have your weapons drawn but move slower (fight-mode). I will put this to my list of stuff that I would like to implement!

With "lisibilité" you probably talk about more (visual / acoustic) feeback from the game to be able to know when to attack and when the enemy attacks. I tried this most of the time in the game (e.g. zombies make a sound when raising their arms and holding it there for some time before attacking), but it's true that it can be clearer. Especially for other enemies that only have visual cues.

It's YOUR game after all, and my opinion represent only my point of view after 20mins of gameplay so yeah take my comment as it is :D

Having the opportunity to try different fighting style is something I except from this type of game (but It's a lot of work to add so I don't mention it on unfinished project), that something I would love to try.

Yeah feedbacks, I don't know why I forgot this word :D

I'm pretty curious so let me ask you few things:

-Do you plane on making this game a product or only an amateur project?

-Is it your first game?

-How skilled are you on code? I mean do you know various languages, have you done years of work in a company, stuff like that?

-I would like to try Unity(2D), but for the moment I only got some basic knowledge in C (from my school) and doing some stuff with game maker. Do you think it's enough to start a project on unity, at least if I do their tutorials(ya know, the roll a ball, 2D ufo, 2D roguelike, procedural cave generation) or it's not good yet and I should have more experience on OOP first, or even in C#?

- My goal is to have released a "full game" before I have graduated university. I'm not yet sure if I will choose this game for this.

- This is far from my first game. I think it's rather my.. 30th game? :D However most of them were really unfinished and even smaller prototypes than this game. So I consider Seal Breaker to be the "first big game / prototype" I have developed. And it's the first game I released to the public. I struggled a lot with createing a game like Seal Breaker over the years (I always wanted to). I started out like 5 times and surrendered soon after (I lacked a plan, knowledge and motivation to pull it off).

- I started to study computer science 4-5 years ago. Since then I have coded in several languages (e.g. C, C++, C#, Java, Python, Javascript). I have worked mostly at university in non-gaming areas and in a small company that created Augmented Reality applications with Unity (first contact with the engine). I also attended some courses at university to learn making games.

- I would really recommend getting familiar with (OOP) programming in general before jumping on a big game engine. Pick a language you like and pick up a simple framework to render stuff to the screen and getting keyboard / mouse input from user (e.g. SFML, XNA / MonoGame). It's easy to think that an engine like Unity will make stuff magically work, but having a solid understanding of what Unity (and other engines) do in the background really help to create a game and it will reduce the frustration that might arrive working with them.

Some recommendations to start with:

- Start small, make simple games like Pong, Tetris, Break Out, Space Shooter and FINISH them. It's really easy to abandon projects and to start over and over again. It's really hard to finish them. Show them to friends and family get some feedback or upload them to platforms like itch.io. Improve from there. Make bigger / more complex games, but keep it yet simple. After some time you will find youself to re-use some code over and over again for a lot of different games. And thats the time you might want to jump onto an engine.

- Try to surround yourself with people that develop games aswell. Make games together with them if possible. Find blogs / YouTube channels / Facebook groups that create games to keep you motivated.

- Attend Game Jams (like Global Game Jam, Ludum Dare). You will learn a lot of stuff in a very short amount of time. Try to find Game James nearby and attend as a real person if possible.

- Make it a habit to create games. E.g. set yourself some goals for a week / month and work on them a little bit every day.

- Be patient. Developing a game is a very time consuming thing and it will frustrate you over and over again. Don't give up. It gets easier and easier.

Okay I will stop here. It's already a lot of text and I don't want to bore you. :D All of the above is just my experience / opinion. People might disagree and for some people other things worked aswell.

When I read your first answers and afterwards your recomendations, I see you know what you're talking about, especialy when you say " However most of them were really unfinished" and recommend " FINISH them. It's really easy to abandon projects and to start over and over again. It's really hard to finish them." xD

Anyway thanks for all these answers. Well I'll try to implement A* pathfinding in my game maker project, and other before starting with unity.